Deadly Visitors
by Spartan-Kun
Summary: In the future, humanity sends a small fleet to a planet dubbed Tarus IV, and the marines and special forces of that fleet band together with the claymores in order to battle the yoma, starting with saving the task force at Pieta. Rated T for violence and language. First story.
1. Contact

Deadly Visitors

A/N -I do not own any of the claymore characters or locations.

-I can't seem to stay in one tense (past or present), please be kind and point it out so I can perhaps learn how to fix it in future fanfics.

-Story starts just before battle of Pieta. (going off bad memory of the anime lol)

September 4th, 2167: 0715 Hours, on board the _Eve of Judgment_ in orbit around Tarus IV.

I walked towards the Hawk gunship, my boot heels sending out echoes throughout the quiet hanger bay. There's a small group of marines and a couple of techs loading it up. It's not a lot of gear, only me and another trooper are going down. Two SCAR members are all that this op calls for. Stealth combat assault recon, SCAR does it all, best of the best. I looked around, but my team mate is nowhere in sight.

Since the techs were busy helping load I decided to walk around the gunship and make an exterior inspection. As should be expected everything looks fine, ATA and ATG munitions locked in and armed, .50 Cal rotary cannon locked in reentry position. The Hawk is ready to roll. As I rounded the corner I saw the call sign of the ships pilot, Whiskey 214 "Moonshine". I allow myself to smile at the blunt humor. Although come to think of it the name is appropriate for what we were about to do.

"Orion! Hey man!" A woman shouted. I turned and saw my partner, Sergeant Major Hailey Stewart.

"Stewart, where the hell have you been? Why weren't you at the briefing?" I had to cover for her and got my ass chewed out because of it.

"Sorry man, my bad. What's the op?" She asks.

"Well if you had been there you'd know." I sigh deeply, beneath her flakey exterior she's one of the best SCAR members on board the ship. "It's pretty simple, on Tarus IV we've located humanoid life. They resemble us pretty much perfectly, only a few tweaks that you can't tell just by looking at them. Our job is to get our boots on the ground and assess the situation. Our probes have located a threat though, a predatory species known planet side as yoma. Apparently they are a sort of monster or something like that to the locals. They are to be killed on sight, understood? However we should only go for kill shots, they are really tough and some can regenerate. Now, a complication is that there are a group of people known as claymores, we don't know too much about them other than that they are infused with yoma DNA and that they fight and kill them. That's it, other than that we know nothing of the claymores. We go in and have ourselves a look around. We'll start up north and move our way south."

I pull out my data pad and show her the map of our operation, "we land here, and will move through this town, the only intel we have on it is that its name is Pieta." I put my pad back in my pocket.

The marines have finished loading, I look at Stewart and we board the Hawk, we look over our gear. We've both been issued a new weapon called the MS-3, MS standing for "Modular system". Three different types of magazines, one with .50 sniper high explosive rounds, one with 7.62 AP rounds, and the last with 12 gauge incendiary buckshot. Our rifle has three different barrels, one for each type of magazine and they all fit onto the platform. This allows Stewart and I to each have an assault rifle, sniper rifle, and shotgun, but only have half the weight. We have some other goodies too like attachable under slung grenade launchers, HE and frag grenades. She special requested some special armor plates to her standard battle dress, denser alloy, extended shoulder plates, reinforced chest plate and the like, I however got my hands on an improved HUD system. We spent a few minutes looking over and inspecting our gear.

At last the call came, 0800 hours, time to drop.

September 4th, 2167: 0830 Hours, entering Tarus IV Atmosphere

The Hawk glided out of the hanger bay, dipping into the vacuum of space. The ship dipped its nose toward the planet and slowly began its descent. The planet below looked so welcoming; I almost forget my life will soon be in danger. I tense up as the ship begins to glow a deep vibrant red from the heat of reentry. My eyes dart across the screen in front of me, ensuring that all is right with the instruments and that nothing was wrong. The ship starts to bounce and jolt, jerking my partner and I back and forth. I nervously look out the window and see the white mountains near our target LZ. The town itself is not noteworthy, surrounding by nothing but forest covered mountains and a plain of snow.

"Stewart!" I holler over the whine of the engines.

"What is it sir?" she looks over from her instruments.

"Hover over that small clearing, I'll repel and start scouting from there while you land and conceal the ship. We can't have anyone finding the Hawk," I tell her as she nods in approval.

The Hawk slowed down and a line dropped from the rear storage bay, I grabbed hold and slid down; I landed softly and brought my rifle up. "I'm clear." I said over my com link. Immediately the ship darted away. I began to make my way towards the tree line as silently as I could. In the dead of night, the cold air bit with unheard of ferocity and it was hard to stay in control of my body as it wanted to shiver and shake in a futile effort to warm itself. Moving a few dozen more yards I came to an overturned log knelt behind it.

I retrieved my sniper rifle system from my pack and quickly assembled it in favor over my assault rifle. Spying through my scope I could barely make out anything in the town due to the snow. I swap over to thermal to get a better view and see a large group of thermal signatures, all human in shape and size. I count twenty four, and no other heat sigs in the entirety of the town.

"Orion, I've got three heat sigs 53 degrees and 462 yards of your current position. The readings indicate they may not be human." Stewart said, and instantly I snap to the position. "I'm getting clear of the Hawk now, it's landed and should be well enough concealed."

"Solid copy, possible tangos spotted. If they show themselves hostile I'll open fire. Stay frosty." I look through my scope and see three men, but if they are just men how can they be these terrifying monsters? I keep my sight trained on the middle one waiting to see what they would do, when he suddenly disappears. A large cloud of dust was forming from the town and there was what sounded like an explosion. I look over through my scope, shutting off thermals and seeing a giant insect like creature. I franticly contact Stewart.

"Targets are hostile! I repeat, hostile! They were disguised as humans!" I yell and quickly look at the other two only to find one remained and another resounding boom coming from the town accompanied by another plume of smoke and dust. I activate my helmet's hud, closing and sealing it. Tactical data appeared in droves but was ignored, for I had a target now, and it would soon be eliminated.

I braced my sniper rifle and leveled the reticule over the man's head and took a deep, slow breath. I pulled the trigger and watched as his head disappear in a mist of red and his body drop, limp to the ground. "Tango down," I say slowly; breathing out but no sooner had I said that Stewart reached me.

"Looks like the other two are in the town, we need to get over their now and provide assistance," I told her and got up and began to run towards the town with her on my heels. Exchanging my sniper rifle for my assault rifle, while Stewart equipped her shotgun we quickly arrived in town.

The town was a mess, no blood, no bodies, but it looked as though the place and been ransacked. We moved quickly, reaching one the yoma. It looked like some strange beetle thing, and as we approached we saw woman fighting it. They had platinum blonde hair, pale white skin, what appeared to be white body gloves on with very minimal armor. But what shocked me the most were the giant claymores that they held and fought with as though they weighed nothing. I saw a few bloody bodies on the ground and knew that this thing had killed them.

I realized, and it appeared Stewart did as well, that these were the claymores we had been told about. We ran forward, weapons raised when one appeared in front of us.

"Stop right there! What do you think you're doing?" She yelled.

"We are here to help, I'm Major Joseph Orion," I stated and saluted.

"I am Sergeant Major Hailey Stewart," She saluted as well.

"I thought we had evacuated all the civilians. Where did you come from and-," she cut herself off as she noticed how different we looked from the people of this world.

"Ma'am, we've already dropped one hostile, locate several hundred yards south of this town. It was the third of the group attacking now." I said slowly, she had a look that showed a hint of surprise.

"Oh, is that so? Well we need you to stay back, that yoma is controlling two of our own and we will not-," this time she was cut off by me raising my rifle and firing a quick burst at the yoma. Blood trickled from the wounds as the rounds tore through its outer armor.

"We are here to help, and it looks like you need it." I pointed out and charged, Stewart followed and once we were close enough opened fire. Between my hail of AP rounds and her flaming buckshot we got its attention.

One of the controlled claymores took a swing at me and I put my arm up to block it, her sword dug deep into my gauntlet but didn't break through. I brought my rifle to bear but another claymore pushed it aside before I could fire.

"Don't hurt them, they aren't acting on their own accord, we must kill the yoma. Now back away!" she yelled but I didn't listen. Stewart was beside me and fired again, catching part of its head on fire. It seemed to scream in agony and a tentacle of some sort lanced out and dented her chest plate. She was knocked back but was unharmed.

I quickly loaded an HE round into my under slung grenade launcher and lobbed the grenade straight into the gullet of the yoma. A few seconds ticked by and were followed by a blast as its body slunk to the ground. Gore rained from the sky from the explosion.

The claymores that had been controlled by it fell to the ground unconscious. I ran to Stewart to ensure she was ok, only to look up and see several swords leveled at us.

"I'm going to ask you once more, who are you?" A woman asked. It was the same as before.

"We told you our names, and helped you kill that thing." I said, gritting my teeth. Stewart was out cold. "We are soldiers from the 666th SCAR regiment, 2nd platoon, Delta squad." The swords remained at my throat.

"What kind of weapons are those that you used?" The woman asked.

"They are called firearms. They are standard for our soldiers. We are not your enemies." I told her, looking around hoping they would let up. "Perhaps you could tell me your name?"

"My name is Miria, ranked number 6 of the claymores of the Organization. Release them." At that moment all the surrounding claymores lowered their weapons. "What are you doing here?"

"My subordinate and I are here on a scouting op, we are from a space fairing species that is nearly identical to yours. We too are humans."

"Do you expect us to believe you're from another planet?" A claymore yelled out.

"It's true! We have technology that allows normal humans to fight on par with these yoma as you just saw."

All the claymores stared at him in disbelief. "I ain't no fucking animal! Stop gawking!" I yelled. I got up and picked up Stewart. "I'm going to set her down in that house and get fire going next to her." I walk off and over heared what appear to be the leaders saying they had lost seven warriors already. They didn't trust us, but that was of little concern to me. Once I got Stewart situated, I walked outside only to find Miria waiting, flanked on either side by a claymore.

"It does appear you have the ability to help, though I don't like it." She told him. "And we've already lost a third of our force here, to a mere scouting party. There is an army of them out there. They will strike soon and you will not survive. Are you sure you wish to stay?"

I looked her dead in the eye. "Miria, we are stealth combat assault recon members, we do not know the meaning of retreat and we sure as hell never shy away from a fight." I looked back at Stewart, and knew what I needed to get done. "How much time do you think we have before they are on us?"

They all looked puzzled. "Perhaps a day till they arrive, why?" Miria asked.

"I've got something to take care of, I'll be back. Tell Stewart when she wakes up that I'm retrieving the Hawk. She knows what it is." I started to walk away but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sending Clare with you; she seems most fond of humans." Miria said.

Sure enough a slender looking woman walked towards me, she looked almost irritated. "Ok, but she has to do what I say because otherwise there will be problems." Clare just nodded.

We start out towards the forest in silence. I knew if I brought the Hawk back it'd make my job easier. I looked over to Clare, she followed silently.

"Sorry that you have to tag along, I know you would rather stay with your comrades." I tell her, hoping to spark conversation.

"I would, though I don't mind. What is it we are coming out here for?" She asks.

"It's called a Hawk, it's the ship Stewart and I used to come down here from the ship in orbit.

"I don't understand much of what you just said." She says flatly.

"That's fine, you'll understand eventually." I point out.

After a few more minutes of just walking in silence we come to a little clearing. I motion for Clare to stay put as I move toward the Hawk, rifle raised. I yank off the camo netting and pat the side of the ship. I holler to Clare to come over and as she walks toward the Hawk, I open the side hatch.

"Get in, and take the right seat." I say to her, and she does just that as I follow her in and take the seat next to her. I start the engines up and look over the panels in front of me. All weapons loaded. Only when I looked at the radar did I notice something awry. There was a large signature ping that looked twice the size of Pieta.

"Shit, shit fuck. We have a problem." I think out loud.

"What is it?" Clare asks calmly.

"I think Pieta is about to come under attack tonight. See that screen? Notice the ping red blob?" I point out the radar. "That means there's something there and we need to check it out, so strap in."

She buckled herself in after a quick demonstration and I pulled the Hawk gently into the air. I couldn't pay any attention to Clare so I could only hope she was all right. I punched the throttle and we began to soar towards the potential yoma army. It wasn't too far, and we quickly pulled into view. There had to be at least two hundred down there. I looked at what munitions were available, some air to air missiles, those wouldn't be useful right now, but the unguided rockets sure as hell would, as well as the .50 rotary cannon. I flew the hawk overhead, and didn't seem to attract any attention. I pulled away for about 300 yards and banked in for a strafing run.

They had no idea what hit them as a hailstorm of rockets and shells tore into the horde. I saw one take a rocket to the base of the neck and another with a trio of holes in its face. They began to panic as the .50 swiveled to continue firing as I peeled off.

"Clare I need you to pay attention so I can get a better idea of how many I kill."

"Ok." She responded.

My second run had less success, the yoma saw more rockets and moved to dodge but some still connected, and they couldn't dodge my cannon fire. More yoma were cut to shreds. And still some were blown to bits by intense rocket fire. As I peeled off I saw three unfold wings and take flight after us. I banked sharp and loosed another torrent of fire from my cannon and cut one down to bits before it had a chance to react. My ATA missiles locked on to the other two and I fired.

The missiles flew through the air, though they some them coming, the yoma couldn't escape. They attempted to outrun them but my ordinance connected and obliterated them. I peeled off once more and headed back to Pieta. I looked over my munitions and saw I'd expended about 75% of my rockets, 40% of my cannon rounds and two of my eight air to air missiles. I'll need to return to the _Eve of Judgment _soon at this rate.

The flight from the yoma to Pieta wasn't eventful and as I landed I was greeted by Miria and Stewart.

"We heard explosions and gunfire, what happened?" Stewart asked.

"Miria, that yoma army that shouldn't be here for another day, is about 15 klicks outside the town. I made some passes, but you'll have to ask Clare for a number of enemies KIA." I explained.

"The Major, using this machine killed roughly fifty yoma and approximately one hundred and fifty more remain." Clare stated.

"Ma'am, I suggest we get ready for a real shit storm, I'll radio for reinforcements." I said and then ran into the Hawk. Miria followed me in and closed the hatch behind her. I got on the com link "Eve of Judgment do you copy? This is SCAR member Major Orion." I waited a moment.

"Orion, this is the Eve of Judgment, what's your status? Have you made contact with locals, claymores, or yoma?" The comm officer responded.

"Claymores and yoma affirmative, we have linked of with a claymore task force and have a yoma army barreling down on us. We need assistance. I'm requesting one platoon with armor support and a flight of Hammer Head bombers."

"Major that's a tall order, I'll direct as much of it to you as I can but don't get your hopes up," The comm officer signed off.

"What have you done?" Miria asked.

"I asked for more men down here to help fight, as well as fighting machines. With them we will stand a better chance of succeeding." I told her.

"As it stands, we won't succeed. And even with help I have little hope. This is a suicide mission." She said as she stared at me.

"Well then, I guess that means we have nothing to lose." I say.

"Be that as it may, I want to get at least some of my people out alive," She looks out the window.

"Ma'am, I don't understand the dynamics of your group, but these yoma need to be killed. All of them, and I intend to assist in that. We are equals here, and we will work together.

We spend a few more minutes talking, I try to instill some hope into but she appears to be totally hopeless and believes death is all that awaits any of us. I hear a banging on the side of the Hawk and open the hatch.

As I step out of the Hawk, already I could the shape of five more Hawks coming in, each one with a medium battle tank and a platoon of marines. Even with just ground forces, this should be enough.

The marines and tanks are from 1st platoon of the 69th Mechanized Infantry. I order them to fall in, and fifty marines fall into line. The Buffalo battle tanks are formed up behind them, each one equipped with a hull mounted dual heavy rotary cannon and a turret mounted 155mm cannon with a coaxial 75mm auto cannon.

We may all die here, but I'll be damned if we don't show the yoma just what the 666th SCAR, and the 69th Mechanized Infantry could do.


	2. Pieta Slaughter

Deadly Visitors

A/N -I do not own any of the claymore characters or locations.

September 4th, 2167: 1453 Hours, Pieta.

The air is still in the room of in the city hall of Pieta. Inside are the leaders of the occupying humans. Myself, Miria, the Claymore squad leaders, and the Lieutenant of the marine detachment begin the briefing. I'm surprised to see the Claymores are so uncomfortable with the presence of the lieutenant and I. I have behind me, a rough map of Pieta drawn on a wall.

"We're lucky. Between the recon group of yoma, and my little strafing run we have gained valuable time and knowledge. We have a couple hours before the attack is expected to commence. Also, they seem to panic when they are killed so easily," I look to Miria and nod, indicating for her to take over.

"Indeed we are lucky. Though we still have a lot of work to do, the arrival of the men and woman outside may turn the tide," she said, though to nobody but me did she admit her disbelief that any of us would survive. Just looking at her no one could tell how hopeless she is.

"We need to draw the yoma towards the center of town, by keeping them packed together in a confined space even our tanks should be able to maintain a level of effectiveness. Snipers and heavy weapons teams have already begun digging in, either in or around this building, or in key positions nearby. Our Hawks will remain on standby to assist in evac should we be unable to hold the line," The Claymore squad leaders look nervous. They're not used to things working like this, though the way the operated before seems half assed and almost careless.

"All warriors need to keep the yoma away from marine positions but within line of site so they can provide support. It appears as though their weapons are highly effective against the yoma, regardless of the fact that they are awakened beings," Miria says, she's scared too I can tell.

"Lieutenant Dante, here are the positions your men need to maintain and these are their fallback points," I point to a large drawing on the wall. "Claymores, keep in mind when fighting that heavy weapon fire will be coming from this building. I don't want any of you to get hit, so inform your warriors exactly where the fire will come from. Now, if all else fails, a squadron of bombers will strafe the area and level the city, on top of the _Eve of Judgment_ will also be in orbit above us and can open fire if we are about to be overrun. Remember, even if we cannot stem the tide, this whole area will be decimated. Good luck everyone, God speed," I hand everyone but Mira a few sheets of paper detailing where different units will be and other important details. As they leave I ask Miria to stay back.

"How are your troops handling themselves, I couldn't help but notice your captains are a little nervous," I notice her shift a little.

"They are uncomfortable with you being here. They would rather fight alone and die than seem weak and ask for help. The only reason they have not spoken out is because you never asked if we wanted help." She said.

"They need it, you know it too."

"Be that as it may, your marines are going to die. Even with your weapons you're no match for an awakened being.

"And you are?"

"…."

"Exactly, you need help. You're so heavily outnumbered even with our assistance this is still going to be close if not hopeless."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I refuse to sit by and let them win, even with reinforcements I'd still be here with Stewart fighting beside you."

"So you would stand and fight, in the face of certain death?"

"Yes Miria, without hesitation."

"Even though you'd fight and die next to warriors who aren't even human?"

"Would you like to know my callsign? It's what I'm supposed to be called if I need to be discreet."

"Alright, but what is its importance.

"It's Ghost, and the importance is why I'm called that."

"And?

"I'm called Ghost because in my first firefight with SCAR the squad I led was wiped out but me. And everyone, including me, saw me as a shell of a once strong man. Until I met Stewart, I was suicidal on any op I undertook. I met her on a two man mission, when things started to go to hell she managed to snap me out of a blood lust and convinced me to get home alive. Since then we have been friends and we have been a two man squad. On an op we undertook we were forced to retreat from an overwhelming enemy force. Although we had left, they had believed we were still I the town and proceeded to burn it to the ground and kill everyone. Had we stayed, fought and died, that town and the people in it would still be there. Since that day we don't back down from a fight when other people are still in harm's way.

"That's touching, but that doesn't change the fact that we are not human. If we die no human will have died in your place"

"We are all human here, even though you have yoma in you, you're still human. You and all the warriors out there are humans. Until you awaken, you are human," I'm about to continue my little speech when my comm buzzed.

"Major, we have movement. The enemy forces are inbound and en masse. Looks like they're going to attempt to bulldoze right over us," the marine said.

"Solid copy, inform sniper and zeus units to prepare to fire," I said and clicked off.

"What is a zeus?" Miria asked puzzled.

"A zeus is an anti-tank high yield laser cannon. At range they will be highly effective." I activate my hud, closing up and sealing my helmet. "Get your warriors into position Miria."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to assist the snipers until the yoma close in, and then I'll aid the marines and warriors on the ground."

She nods and leaves. I start to make my way up the winding stair case. The wood creaks under me step after step. One hundred and fifty yoma, and that's just an approximation, against fifty marines and a handful of Claymores. Even with armor support this wasn't looking too good. I pull out the wrinkly map of human positions. Every point of defense has a clear straight run to the Hawks in case everything goes south.

I reach the upper levels and bring up my rifle; slowly I twist the sniper barrel onto the housing and calibrate my sights. Even now I can see the huge dark forms of awakened being wading through the snow and ice. I nestle down and get comfortable as my hud picks up the signal being given off by the marines' transponder chips located at the base of their neck. I had made a point of handing out wrist mounted transponders to the claymores, and even now I can begin to see them moving into position.

"Miria are your warriors ready?" I asked over the comm, her and her captains each have a headset so they can maintain communications.

"Yes we are,"

"Good, all units check in," I said.

"Team Veronica ready,"

"Team Flora ready,"

"Team Undine ready,"

"Team Jean ready,"

"Lieutenant Dante, squad one in position, all marine units standing by,"

"Major Orion I'm sending Clare up to you. She has orders to keep you safe," It was Miria

As if on cue she knelt beside me and I nodded to her.

"Keep your head down," I tell her and in response she lays on her stomach with her hand on her weapon ready to attack.

"I will keep you safe,"

"I appreciate it, but don't worry I've seen worse holdouts than this," I laugh a little to myself but the moment quickly fades. "Stewart are you in position?" I ask over the comm.

"Yes sir, I'm with squad three near team Jean," her response was quick.

"Copy, this is Major Orion, all snipers, and zeus teams call your targets and open fire."

A second, no two, ticked by, and for a moment the world held still, the bellowing wind, the downpour of snow, it was all stopped. The silence so thick I could reach out and cut it. Human blood was soon to be shed and I had just ordered it to begin. Oh how Andrew would laugh seeing how much I'd changed, if he were still alive that is. But with his memory, with all of them on my mind I get ready for what is to come. For my brother, for my old squad, I'll make them proud.

Time starts back slowly at first and the first crack brings it all back with full force. Bright beams of light stab out into the snow intermixed with vapor contrails of .50 cal high explosive rounds. Looking through my scope I saw the weapons take a fearsome toll. And even as time returned to normal, taking a breath and looking through my scope slows it all back down. I can see the yoma, they're panicking, but not much. I place my reticule over the head of a beast and fire. It doesn't go down, so I fire again, and again, and finally with one last shot the head of it is obliterated and its body falls limp to the cold ground. I pick another target and continue firing. Shot after shot I fire into the weak spots of the onrushing yoma . The laser cannons are punching right through them and the hail of sniper fire only adding to the death toll. How many have died so far? How many are left? These questions go unanswered as the first screams of men are heard over the comm channel. The awakened beings reacted a great deal faster than I had anticipated.

Bursts of rifle fire erupt all along our lines; I can hear metal clashing with claws and other hard objects. I hear the screams of the dying and the wounded. I toss aside my sniper barrel and equip my assault rifle; Clare begins to get up as I hurl myself out the window and into the midst of the fighting.

I hit the soft ground and find the closest yoma, blinding firing into it. Clare is beside me protecting me from attack. Lobbing an explosive grenade into the side of it, I sheer off a couple of its limbs and I pour fire into its exposed neck. Clare is deflecting blows from a number of yoma and I can tell it's taking all of her concentration to cover me. I fire a long burst into a nearby yoma, tearing its stomach to shreds. As it falls in pain a nearby squad of marines rush in for the kill; only to be stopped when a Claymore appears above it and decapitates it. The marine squads form circles and fire at anything larger than a human. They hold their own for a while, dropping several yoma while the claymores keep them at bay. One by one though, the marines take casualties. I look around and see a tro of marines armed with shotguns point blank with a yoma's screaming face in theirs, they all fire at its gaping maw simultaneously obliterating it. Similar scenes of slaughter occur all around me. A marine to my left is rent in half and her head bitten off by a yoma reminiscent of spider. Shortly after a beam of light punches right through its chest and I finish it off with a quick burst to the face. The marines' armor isn't holding up against the attacks of the yoma, unlike Stewart's who has already taken several blows to her upper body.

The two outlying marine positions are heavily battered and fall back to the square in front of city hall. The three central units begin to lose ground little by little. Clare and I find ourselves fighting yoma all around us. The city is overrun, faster than I had expected. Bodies and gore litter the streets, the snow seems as though it is pure red with human and yoma blood.

"Buffalos move in and secure the square," I scream into my headset.

Nearby engines rev as the tanks move into position, they surround the square and all six Hawks that are in it.

"All units give a status report!" I holler.

"Team Miria, two warriors remaining, as well has six marines from squad one, the lieutenant is dead."

"Team Flora, myself and one warrior remain, marine squad four is wiped out."

"Team Undine, I'm down to three warriors."

"Team Veronica, three warriors left, marine squad two is gone."

"Team Jean, we are down to three warriors and four maines from squad three."

"Shit, all Claymores and marines pull back!" I yell, I didn't know we had already lost so many. Eleven Claymores, and twenty marines left, squad five was in the building with the heavy weapons and sniper rifles. I look around and see all the men and woman falling back, running and firing and slicing their way through. I watch as marines are cut down, and Claymores are mortally wounded. I need to get as many people out of here as I can. While falling back more Claymores and marines are killed, some stabbed in the back and run through. Others are torn in half. A handful of marines detonate C4 whilst in the clutches of the enemy.

"Deneve!" Clare yelled

I looked over and sure enough, she had a horrible wound in her leg. Between bursts of fire Clare and I pulled her towards a Hawk. There were almost no marines left and the Claymores were down to a handful.

The tanks tore through the yoma with ease, bristling with heavy weapons the yoma were no match for them. The tanks' thick armor protected them from the tendrils launched at them. Cannon fire decimated the yoma, high caliber rounds punching and rending the monsters. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I hadn't thought the tanks would be so effective against the agile yoma, but with so many packed so tightly together even the main guns were taking a toll.

One of the Buffalos had "Shield of Heaven" emblazoned on its side skirt. It was the first to die. Several yoma latched onto it, tearing its weapons off. I heard over the comm channel as the crew inside were torn out of their vehicle and ripped to shreds in a mess of blood and gore. One by one the tanks who attacked, though they took a score of the foe with them they all fell. Blood seeped from the vehicle hatches and a few crew members took hold of pintle mounted heavy machine guns, blasting away in pure defiance to their killers. Even after losing an arm I saw one man hold on to his weapon and fire until he took two tendrils to the chest.

While the tanks put up their last stand I grabbed what few survivors we had left and piled them into the Hawks. A marine, Miria, Clare, Deneve, Helen and Jean climb into one while myself, Stewart and a couple of marines get into another. Everyone else was dead. I look out the window and see the other Hawk, its cannon pouring rounds into the horde. Our craft turns and looses all of its rockets at point blank range, the other ship follows suit and together destroy anything close enough to pose a threat. I feel us banking and taking us into the sky.

"This is Major Orion, bomber squadron "Shark Bite" engage our last known position," I say over the comm.

I don't get an answer, instead I look back see seven bombers swoop in and drop their devastating payload on top of Pieta. As we pull away further all I can see are the explosions and fires left behind. A lot of good men and woman were left behind, all dead. I look through the roster of troops in the platoon, only three survivors. Out of a platoon of fifty strong, only three souls remained. This was just an opening skirmish, but if this is what a platoon of marines with minimal support could do then several thousand marines with all our tools of war should be enough.

I look over at the other Hawk; those five women would soon be invaluable. Their knowledge will allow us to fight a war against the yoma. They lost a lot of their friends today, but they, just like us, have a job to do. As I finish checking on Stewart and the marines I get called to the cockpit.

"Sir we have a comm of the _Judgment_, they want to know if we are at safe distance to bombard the area," the pilot said.

"Inform them we are, destroy it all," I look at the ship above us and see its orbital weapons batteries powering up. Beams of bright red light showered the planet below, impacting Pieta and anything within twenty miles. Due to the size of the beams when they struck the planet below they caused a large explosion. With a dozen such weapons firing every few seconds they soon littered the target area with craters. Typically reserved for ship to ship combat, when turned against a planet the results were vastly more destructive than even a nuclear device. We are barely outside the firing radius of all those cannons, and the thought of being caught in the bombardment isn't appealing. But the thought of the carnage on the ground brought a smile to my lips.

All the yoma we failed to kill would soon find themselves under an attack so intense it would seem as though the heavens above and been rent open and the gods themselves exacted their furious judgment on the monsters. Death would come to them all, at least I could stand here and know that we had put up a hell of a fight. The next time the Imperial Marine Corps engaged the yoma, they wouldn't be so lucky.

As the Hawks docked in the large vessel I gathered my gear and stepped onto the rear hatch. There was a loud clang and I noticed the Claymores were already disembarking from their drop ship. I was dying to get out of this tin can but had to wait until the ramp lowered.

When it opened I saw Clare standing there in tears, and her fist collided with my face. I flew back a few feet, my head slammed against the metal floor boards and I was rendered unconscious.

AN/ -Sorry for the long wait, but life's been crazy. I'll need to read the manga before I continue but thought it'd be fun to get the battle done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews/Questions/Suggestions are welcome! (In fact I would really appreciate them)


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